Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We hear today the beginning of Luke’s story, his gospel, as recorded by witnesses, which is written with great beauty and strength. Stories as we have been saying the last few weeks inspire us, influence us and can change us. We need to slow down and take a look at our story so that we can learn from it. Many people do not take the time to look at their story, or to speak about it with a friend. Often people in life keep repeating the same mistakes. You have a choice to take a look at it and to decide on something different. You have a choice of living your own little story or being part of God’s story, a much bigger story of salvation. Hopefully your reflection on your life will lead you to build a better story, with God’s help.
We hear a great narrative from Nehemiah in the first reading (Nehemiah 8:1-10) this Sunday. He was living in Persia in exile and had a very influential position. This exile helped him and the Jews a lot to see how far they had wandered from God. When Nehemiah heard about the condition of Jerusalem one day he was very depressed and the king noticed this and asked if he could help. Nehemiah was bold enough to ask the king if he and others could go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city, especially the walls of the city, which were very important to any city for its protection. The king agreed and also said he would pay for the rebuilding of the city’s walls. Nehemiah was appointed governor of Jerusalem and he finished the work in two months. At the end of the rehabilitation of the city he had a Word of God celebration that is told in the first reading.
The priest did the reading from the Law of Moses, one of the first five books of the Bible. This reading helped the people to see how far they had strayed from God. The people wept when they saw the huge gap between the Law and their behavior. They were filled with regret, with sorrow. Nehemiah tells them that today is holy and do not be sad. Go and enjoy the rich foods and sweet drinks, and rejoice in the Lord who is your strength.
All of us have something in our story, in our life, that we regret. If you do not have regrets then you do not know your story, or you are not being honest about it. Maybe you regret something from your days in college that you did not study much, had too much fun. Or you may regret a friendship that you let fail or didn’t try to restore or retain. Or there was a failed marriage that you did not fight for; you let your heart and eyes wander and were unfaithful. Maybe as a parent you have a regret or sorrow that you fell away from the Church, or you just went through the motions, and you see the consequences of this with your children. Or at work you did not say something or failed to act or to help someone who was in need and things went from bad to worse.
The tendency is often to deny it or better yet, to pretend or forget it ever happened. This is not helpful. Part of knowing yourself is to know your regrets and God wants to redeem them, to forgive them, and then you can move forward. Only God can do this. Just like the city walls he rebuilt for Jerusalem he can rebuild you, and me.
I regret the anger and judgments I had against my mother for babying me and the courage that I lacked to do something different. It was the Church that helped me to see that I had an idol of the way I thought she should be. And today I am grateful for her and for the history God made with me. Only by voicing that regret with others was God able to heal it.
The Lord does not want you to be sad or to dwell on your regrets. He wants you to acknowledge them, and to move on. He wants you to live in the joy and peace and to experience his forgiveness. You can rebuild your story through the Church and especially the sacrament of penance. Tell your regrets, your sorrows to a priest and God will use them to heal you. You can make the story of your life better, with God’s help.
Nehemiah says, ‘Today is holy, is sacred. Do not be sad; rejoice in the Lord for he is your strength.’
